1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to egg filler flats used in cases or crates for bulk storage, handling and shipping of eggs and the like, and is more particularly related to improvements which include means for not only providing maximum protection of eggs during rough packing and handling, but also includes means whereby the flats may be easily inserted or removed from egg cases or crates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, eggs and like articles are packed for shipment in corrugated cases, wire baskets or wooden crates in which wood fiber pulp or foamed thermoplastic egg filler flats are used with each filler flat having cells or pockets for receiving the individual eggs. The filler flats separate the several layers of eggs packed within the cases or crates. Normally, the filler flats have thirty cells in a five by six cross row relationship confined within a substantially square egg flat configuration. Egg crates or cases are usually designed to hold fifteen dozen or thirty dozen eggs in one six egg-layer grouping or in two, side by side, six egg-layer groupings, respectively.
In the past, egg filler flats were usually made from a composition of molded pulp, but more recently egg flats have been made from thermoplastic materials. When molded pulp is utilized, the egg flats are mass-produced on machines carrying suction molds which are passed through a suspension or slurry of fibers whereby the fibers are deposited in the form of a felt layer on the surface of the molds. Thereafter the felt layer is dried to form the egg flat. The deposited fibers generally provide an acceptable softness and resilience, but the requisite strength, cell capacity, etc. is achieved through the use of special structural components and design of the egg filler flat. When a thermoplastic material is utilized the egg flats are normally mass-produced by thermoforming thermoplastic sheeting on vacuum or matched die forming machines. A foamed thermoplastic material, more particularly polystyrene foam sheet, is normally used to provide for a suitable softness and resilience, but as in the case of using a molded pulp material the requisite strength, cell capacity, etc. is achieved primarily through the design of the egg flat.
In the past, a primary problem has been the incorporation of a soft resilient material into an egg flat which will also provide sufficient rigidity to prevent the eggs from contacting each other and breaking during rough handling of the individual flats. The problem of providing sufficient rigidity in the egg flats has resulted in a variety of designs to overcome the economic disadvantage of using an excess of structural material. Also, an additional problem is created by increasing the rigidity in an egg flat in that it becomes increasingly difficult to load and unload the filler flats from the egg crates or cases as the rigidity of the egg flats is increased.